


Just A Small Nightmare

by spinsters_grave



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Hunk is the friend we need, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Not the friend we deserve, Serious Talks, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, honestly if i'm being honest here read it for the bonus scene, it'll be worth your time trust me, keith is an orphan and what else is new, kids miss home, sad people, scared people, the BEST bonus scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-06 01:30:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8729356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinsters_grave/pseuds/spinsters_grave
Summary: You think you're capable of defending yourself- but you've got friends, and they can help you. Just talk to them.





	

Keith didn’t mean to fall asleep in the hallway, but he was very tired, and he wasn’t thinking. Something deeply ingrained should have told him to not place himself in such a vulnerable position, but it was silenced somehow- maybe the sense of security Keith got by living with only six other people, maybe it was the fact that he’s capable now of defending himself.

 

He thought he was capable of defending himself. Who else could face the face of evil himself, who else could come so close to _fail and LIVE-_

 

Keith woke up with a yell. He stifled it quickly with a hand over his mouth, tried to hide his breathing and hide himself- but he was so exposed out here- and it was too late, there they came.

 

Keith leaned back and knocked his head on the wall behind him, hand still over his mouth in a futile attempt to silence his breathing, trying to control his heart rate. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat.

 

Keith heard footsteps pounding, nearing, getting closer. He took the hand from his mouth and ran it over his face, trying to rearrange his features into something human. He wasn’t sure if it worked or not.

 

No surprise, the mother of the team rounded the corner first, followed swiftly by the de facto leader and her second in command. Keith had stood up by this time and gathered himself like Lego bricks, cube by cube arranging himself into an upright person who can function. Hunk’s footsteps slowed and then stopped, a meter or so away from Keith, who refused to look him in the eye. Hunk’s hand hovered over Keith’s shoulder, trying to decide whether or not Keith would be okay with touch right now or not. Keith watched it like a hawk out of the corner of his eye.

 

Allura and Shiro caught up. Shiro wasted no time clapping Keith on the shoulder, and Hunk drew his hand back quickly like he had been stung.

 

It didn’t matter. Keith shrugged off Shiro’s hand with a small motion but didn’t go anywhere- he was effectively pinned against the wall by those three bodies. Not like it would stop him if he really wanted to break out, but he appreciated the tactical genius that the others displayed.

 

“Keith?” Shiro began. “We heard a yell. Are you okay?”

 

Keith rubbed his face with a hand again. “Yeah,” he rasped out. “Just a nightmare.”

 

Allura pouted a little, like she was confused. “Do humans normally go to sleep in the middle of the hallway? I thought you all used the beds we gave you.”

 

Keith looked at her out of the corner of his eye warily; Allura was too damn crafty for her own good. “No,” he muttered. “I was just very tired and accidentally fell asleep out here. It won’t happen again,” he added, maybe to quiet for anyone to hear but it was reflex to add that by now.

 

Allura’s forehead furrowed, and Keith cursed under his breath when he remembered that her ears weren’t there for decoration, goddammit. “‘It won’t happen again’?” she quoted. “Do correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you humans say that when you expect to be punished?”

 

The three humans shifted around, trying not to look each other in the eye. Keith folded his arms across his chest defensively. “It’s common,” he muttered, “to say that when you expect to be punished, yes. But that might just be me, ask Shiro or something.”

 

Allura turned expectantly to Shiro. “Well?”

 

Shiro bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, yeah,” he said, in what he probably thought was a nonchalant manner but was just very forced. “‘It won’t happen again’ is more like an informal promise. When you expect to get into trouble, you say it and it might fix things.”

 

Allura frowned, then turned back to Keith, who pretended like he wasn’t cowering in fear. “You just fell asleep in the hallway, Keith,” she said as gently as she could manage. It worked for her. “There’s nothing to be so scared of. You’re not going to get into trouble, I hope you know.”

 

Keith crunched more into himself. He glanced over to Hunk, trying to see if he would offer any support, but Keith was left on his own. “Yeah, I know,” he said. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, then closed it when he couldn’t find words to express what he wanted to say. “Sorry,” he muttered after a minute.

 

Hunk clapped him on the back, once, hard. “Well, now that that’s all sorted out,” he began, “I think Keith needs to help me in the kitchen. I need an extra hand to do... Stuff. You know, Cooking stuff.”

 

Shiro and Allura looked at each other, and shrugged. Keith just looked at them, hoping to convey _Traitors!_ into their minds with his eyes. They didn’t seem to get the message.

 

Hunk gently led Keith to the kitchens, not saying a word. That was not good- Keith read books, he had foster parents that hated each other, he knew that ‘This person needs to help me in the kitchen’ was code for ‘This person and I are going to have a little, private chat, in which this person is going to regret ever meeting me.’

 

Hunk deposited Keith at the doorway of the kitchen and began to pull out various spoons and platters. Keith had no idea what anything was for. Growing up, all he got was canned food because they were cheaper and would last longer, and all they needed was time in the microwave, or sometimes not even that. When he was a little older, Keith learned to break into greasy fast-food joints late at night when the employees were half-asleep to take some french fries out from right underneath their noses. It was like he could become invisible. That, or he would try to save up to buy food from places. Try to be ethical. Sometimes Keith could pull off the ‘starving, young orphan’ for the older employees, and they would give him food.

 

So kitchen supplies were all nonsense to him. You might as well have asked Keith to speak Greek.

 

Hunk banged one last pan on the counter, then put his arms deadlocked against the edge of the counter and leaned his weight against them. They looked at each other for a minute before Hunk said, “I bet you’re wondering why I’ve called you here today,” in the most serious tone Keith had ever heard come out of a person that nice.

 

“Don’t be afraid,” Hunk said in a much more normal tone, maybe sensing Keith’s confusion and discomfort. “I’ve just always wanted to say that. Now look, I need someone strong to get some reserves of flour from the storage rooms.”

 

Keith eyed Hunk’s arms, already packed with enough strength to carry three people. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Okay.”

 

Hunk gave him an unimpressed look. “And I want to know what you’re keeping from Shiro and Allura,” he added.

 

Keith pressed his lips together into a thin line. “Fine,” he conceded, “but I don’t know where the storage rooms are.”

 

Hunk smiled grimly. “Follow me, then,” he said, pushing himself off of the counter and breezing past Keith, who still stood in the doorway. “They’re this way,” he called over his shoulder, already halfway down the hallway. How did he move so fast?

 

Keith followed, albeit slower and much more nervous. Hunk led him down two passages, took a right, then a left, and then Keith managed to get lost. That was probably what Hunk was hoping for.

 

Finally, Hunk stopped in front of a door, the same as every other one, and let it hiss open all the way before striding inside. Keith followed more hesitantly- this deep in the Castle, no one could hear their screams.

 

Hunk started to whistle, filling the empty space as much as he could. Keith couldn’t recognize the tune, but it sounded modern and pop-y. “Over here,” Hunk said, breaking the sound and Keith’s musings. “Flour reserves, some other crates. We’ll have to take a couple trips.”

 

Keith took in a breath through his nose and bent to pick up the edge of the flour sack. Experimentally, the lifted it. “This isn’t too heavy,” he muttered. “I could carry a couple of these at a time.”

 

Hunk looked at Keith for a long second, blinking. “Okay,” he said, “Those don’t weigh seventy five pounds each. Nope. Go right ahead, Keith.”

 

Keith shrugged and picked up two flour sacks, heaving them over his shoulders. They _were_ light. “You gonna get something else?”

 

Hunk blinked, then nodded hurriedly. “Yeah. Yes. A crate of salted meat from the last planet we visited- where is it?” Hunk muttered to himself as he rummaged through the various crates, and Keith let himself drop the sacks and wait.

 

“Found it,” Hunk said triumphantly. “Okay, now that I’ve got you down here, tell me something- were your parents cruel to you at all? In any way?”

 

Keith felt ice settle in the pit of his stomach. “Uh,” he stuttered, “I don’t know?”

 

Hunk frowned at the question in confusion. “What do you mean, you don’t know? How would you not know if your parents were cruel to you?”

 

Keith took in a deep breath, and swayed, watching fire burn in front of his eyes and watching photographs, memories, running past in his mind- one foster mother, who didn’t let him eat dinner when he said he didn’t love her, he hardly knew her- another one, who snorted in derision when Keith said he got a C on an assignment and made him stay up late that night, studying- a father, who almost was the best thing in Keith’s life until he brought back too much beer and too many men and women- and then they just stopped coming, and the matron told Keith that he was too old to realistically be adopted-

 

Hunk’s voice swam back into Keith’s mind. “Keith? Keith, can you hear me? Oh god, I did not expect this to happen- here, sit down.”

 

Keith obeyed, but it felt like a dream. Slowly, reality came back- reality for him, anyway, fighting a ten thousand year old empire in alien warships in deep space, from Earth’s standards. Keith ran his hands over his face and tried to get back to normal.

 

Hunk laid a hand on his shoulder, and Keith didn’t care enough to shrug it off. The memories came slower now, and he could push them to the back of his mind and focus on what was happening- the here and now.

 

Keith swallowed and closed his eyes and sat up straight. Steady. Then he stood up to face Hunk and said, “I’m good. Ready to go back? I don’t know the way myself.”

 

Hunk stared up at Keith, his heart on his sleeve- Worry, for sure, the expression that he wanted to know Keith, to help him- But Keith broke eye contact when he turned, lifting the flour sacks again.

 

He turned again to look back at Hunk, who rose to his feet. “Come on,” Keith said, “We don’t exactly have all day.”

 

Hunk sighed and pursed his lips. Keith waited expectantly as he lifted the crate of salted meat, then tried not to listen when Hunk said, “Keith, keeping all this in yourself isn’t very healthy. You really should trust me enough to talk about what you’re feeling- we’re part of a team, like it or not, and I’m _here_ for you.”

 

Keith shoved the door open and just started walking in a direction- fifty-fifty of getting it right. Hunk hurried after him, crate slowing him down. “Listen to me, Keith- you need help! What do you think you’re going to do, keep all of that- that _malcontent_ locked up inside of you? That’s _not okay!”_

 

Keith stopped in the middle of the hallway and let the bags of flour drop. “Of _course_ it’s not okay,” he growled. He didn’t hear anything but his heartbeat speed up- he should have heard Hunk’s steps. Or, this quiet, his breath.

 

“Of course it’s not okay,” he repeated. “Of course I need help. But of _course_ I’m going to keep it locked up- I can’t tell you. I know- I know- I know I _should,_ and that sucks. And I know you’re here for me, but I can’t bring myself to care- or I can and I don’t want to have to burden you with such a- a terrible thing.”

 

Hunk finally took a breath and a step, and then Keith heard him set his crate down and take the one more step to stand behind Keith. His hands hovered over Keith’s shoulders, and Keith curled in on himself and wrapped his own hands on his biceps.

 

Hunk finally placed his own hands on Keith’s shoulders, and Keith didn’t have to turn around to know exactly what worried face Hunk wore just then. He didn’t move his hands, even when Keith didn’t respond- maybe because Keith didn’t respond, didn’t knock them off like he did Shiro’s.

 

Hunk’s hands were very warm. It didn’t help that Keith was a sucker for warm things, like desert sand and thick blankets. Hunk just stood there, behind Keith, letting him soak in the warmth and respond how he wanted.

 

Keith sighed almost silently and let tension fall gradually from his frame. He broke away from Hunk and lifted the flour bags again, much calmer. “Which way is the kitchen?” he asked, a small smile on his face to let Hunk know that he was alright, he was better now.

 

Hunk smiled back and lifted up his crate in response. “This way,” he said, gesturing with the crate. “Follow me.”

 

They walked in companionable silence, and Keith let the small smile stay on for a couple minutes longer while they made their way.

  


***

 

Hunk gave him a blanket. So he _knows_ Keith is a sucker for warm things. There can be no other option! It was a conspiracy. Keith knew _all_ about conspiracies.

 

Keith grabbed the blanket, conspiracy or not, and wrapped it around his shoulders. “I almost don’t regret letting you convince me to talk,” he muttered. “Do you think Coran can really make that… Cowherd’s pie?”

 

“Shepherd’s pie. Yeah, I left him a recipie.” Hunk smiled at him and sat on his bed. They were in Hunk’s room, which was a lot warmer and comfortable than expected- Hunk had draped blankets over the light fixtures, dispersing the light and making the room soft, and there were little things all over the room, like branches and small jars of dirt. It was nice. Ten out of ten for sticking to an aesthetic.

 

Keith joined Hunk on the bed. Just sitting there, soaking in good feelings.

 

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Hunk asked.

 

Keith shrugged and gave Hunk half of the blanket absent-mindedly. “I dunno,” he said. “It’s nice here. Feels like…” He couldn’t find a word.

 

“Family?” Hunk suggested. Keith thought about it for a minute- there wasn’t much ‘family’ he could compare to. His first, most vivid memory- being wrapped in a blanket just like this one, lying on his back staring up at a mobile, maybe. He remembered being warm and fuzzy around the edges.

 

“I don’t know,” Keith said softly. “It’s warm, and fuzzy- it feels like walking into a place you know you belong.”

 

“So like home,” Hunk pressed. He wrapped an arm around Keith and pulled him into his side. Keith tried his hardest to relax, but after falling asleep in the hallway, after putting himself into such a vulnerable position, he couldn’t bring himself to do it again. Hell, Keith still had his boots on, ready to run when he needed to. Knowing shoes on feet meant they wouldn’t get stolen in the middle of the night.

 

“I don’t really know what home and family feel like, Hunk,” Keith said sarcastically. “Orphan, ‘member? I was too young when my parents died to know what they felt like- oh, here comes the heavy stuff. You sure you want to hear this?”

 

Hunk gave Keith a little affirmative shake with the arm wrapped around his shoulder and smiled down at him. “That’s what I’m here for, my pal,” he said brightly.

 

Keith smiled back, but it fell when he started talking. “Okay. So- I was too young to remember the people who gave birth to me, right? I don’t have any memories of them, just a faint one of my crib- they weren’t there. I was too young to miss them when they were gone- it’s just like you don’t miss your pacifier. I don’t miss my _parents,_ Hunk, what the hell is _wrong_ with me?”

 

Keith took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the way it shuddered and made his chest hurt. It _wasn’t_ emotional. It wasn’t.

 

Hunk made a small, consoling noise and pulled Keith tighter into his side. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Keith,” he said. “I get it- too young to remember. I was super young when I was adopted, myself- I don’t miss my birth parents at all. I mean, I think about them sometimes, what they’re doing back on Earth, but- I get it. I don’t miss them.”

 

Keith looked up at Hunk. “You were adopted? Since when?” he asked with awe.

 

Hunk snorted. “Since I was three months old, silly. I have two moms, and they decided they wanted to give a foster kid a chance instead of bringing more children into the world. They adopted my older sister at the same time as they did me, which was cool. It’s not often an older kid gets adopted- Oh. Sorry.” Hunk scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

 

Keith patted Hunk’s knee, trying to get used to touching each other’s bodies. “It’s alright,” Keith said. “I’m glad your sister was adopted older, and that she could find a good family. I’m not bitter or anything- I’m sad it didn’t happen to me, sure, but I’m not going to lose my mind over the fact that your sister got adopted and I didn’t.”

 

Hunk gave Keith a grateful smile. “Thanks. I’ll introduce you two when we get back- You’re very similar. I’m sure you could tell each other stories.”

 

Hunk and Keith sat in companionable silence. “So tell me what family means to you,” Keith whispered.

 

Hunk thought for a moment. “The beach,” he whispered back. “The ocean. Vibrant colors. My little sister- we call her Punk- and her art. My moms being so in love, cooking together, reading together. Skype calls to my older sister, Skunk- yeah, it’s a pattern- she’s in college, studying marine biology. My moms chose the pattern- they’re Chipmunk and Junk.”

 

Keith let that soak in. “Skunk, Hunk, Punk, Chipmunk, and Junk. Huh. Beaches and oceans and colors. That’s home?”

 

Hunk smiled wistfully off into the distance. It looked like he wasn’t seeing the far wall draped in blankets, but rather a distant sunny day- at least it was sunny in Keith’s imagination. Might have been partly cloudy. A partly cloudy day, with the wind in the waves and his hair and the splash of the ocean and the smell of the salty sea-

 

Hunk sighed and leaned back into Keith- who was pretty strong, but not _that_ strong. They toppled over, the blanket tangled between them. If they moved, they would fall off the bed.

 

Keith could feel Hunk’s breath on his face, near his temple. “Oops,” Hunk said softly.

 

They rearranged themselves as best they could- yes, falling off the bed, but that was okay- and ended up even more tangled in the blanket. Altean blankets were _huge_.

 

They eventually gave up and just lay on the floor, wrapped in the blanket and looking at each other. Not much else they could do. And at least Keith was on top- he could _not_ breathe underneath Hunk. The man was just too big and soft.

 

Keith felt his eyelids droop. He snapped them open and thought, _Oh shit, no, not now, not when I’ve just fallen asleep in the hallway- I don’t want another nightmare. I don’t want to fall asleep again._

 

Hunk wiggled an arm around to lay on Keith’s back, grounding him again. “You okay? You got pale all of a sudden.”

 

Keith glanced to the side, avoiding Hunk’s worried gaze as best he could. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

 

Hunk frowned disapprovingly. “Keith.”

 

Shiro should take some goddamn notes, Keith thought. “I didn’t want to fall asleep,” he confessed. “I don’t want to have another nightmare.”

 

Hunk breathed out through his nose like he was vaguely amused. “I’ll protect you,” he said. “I’m a certified Defender of the Universe. No nightmare can stand up to me.”

 

Keith grinned softly and yawned. “Gosh,” he mumbled. “Emotional talks and almost having a breakdown really take it out of you, huh.”

 

Hunk laughed softly, making Keith rumble along with Hunk’s body. “Yeah, they do,” Hunk said fondly. “Take a nap. I’ll be here if you need me.”

 

Keith’s head drooped to Hunk’s chest, where he could feel his heartbeat and the creaking of his bones. “It’s been a while since I’ve slept with someone,” he slurred, already drifting off.

 

Hunk patted Keith’s back, where he still had his arm encircling Keith’s body. “Me too,” he said, and Keith could feel the rumble of effort Hunk’s body made to produce two short and simple words.

 

Just like that, he was gone.

 

***

 

True to his word, Hunk chased away any nightmares. He had protected his sisters, and now he had a new important person to protect- And the universe to defend.

 

THE END

 

BONUS SCENE

 

Haggar just laughed at him and turned her back, picking up a sickly-looking knife. “Well, I hope you’re ready to experience something you never have in all your pitiful, human existence.”

 

Hunk raised his eyebrows, shocked at the confidence flowing through his body. “Damn, shawty,” he said. “Didn’t know you were into that.”

 

Haggar’s face blanked out, but Hunk knew that her heart was probably on her sleeve for the people who knew her. “What did you just call me? _Shawty?”_

 

Hunk looked up and right, avoiding Haggar’s gaze. “Earth slang, shawty,” he said, testing the waters. “Its, uh… you know.”

 

Haggar put her knife down slowly, turning her whole body to face Hunk. “Why would you call me this _shawty_? Is it a term of honor on your planet?”

 

Hunk shrugged as much as he could. “It’s, I don’t know, a nickname for girls. In general.”

 

Haggar creased her brow and folded her fingers underneath her chin, staring into Hunk’s soul with those glowing Galra eyes. “I see. What does one have to accomplish to earn the name ‘Shawty’? A feat of strength- vanquishing a beast? Defending against an army? Are there many of these ‘shawties’ on your planet?”

 

Hunk’s hackles raised. “Oh, I see what you’re trying to do here,” he growled. “Shawty is just a nickname- it’s not a title. Any girl could be called that. Maybe she sucked the guy’s dick, I don’t know- probably not- maybe in some cases? It’s a super common term.”

 

Haggar sat down in the doctor swivel chair. “What does it mean to ‘suck a guy’s dick’? I don’t understand all of these strange sayings from your planet,” she muttered.

 

Hunk gulped and flushed. “I do not think I want to tell you what sucking a dick means,” he said in a very high-pitched voice.

 

Haggar frowned. “Very well,” she sighed. “Shall we continue on with what we were doing? I believe… you were about to tell me what these ‘humans’ from your planet have for defense against an outside force. Are they well connected? Is there a planet-wide militaristic value for hostile contact with alien invaders?”

 

“Shawty,” Hunk said, much more comfortable with the term, “I said it before and I’ll say it again- I’m not going to tell you anything.”

 

BONUS BONUS SCENE

 

Hunk narrowed his eyes. The Galra ship was visible, even though it was almost a mile away and pitch black. “Shawty,” he growled.

 

He heard Lance choke on air over the comms. “ _Shawty?_ Who the hell is _Shawty?”_

 

Hunk started. Did he really say that out loud? “It’s, uh, a nickname. For Haggar.”

 

There was a choking sound from Pidge, then silence over the air, and then Shiro said, “Why did you call Haggar Shawty? Did she-”

 

“No, no way,” Hunk interrupted. “It was a joke. From when they got me. We, uh, talked, and I called her Shawty once and it stuck. She thinks it’s an honorable title- like you have to vanquish beasts and stuff.”

 

Everyone was just struck dumb. “I cannot believe you called Haggar Shawty,” Lance mumbled.

 

Pidge said, “I had to mute my comms, sorry. But Hunk, _seriously?_ Seriously? Shawty? Haggar?” They dissolved into laughter, which was abruptly cut off. Hunk assumed they muted the comms again.

 

Keith said, “I don’t get it.”

 

“Oh my god,” Lance drawled. “I know we’re in the middle of fighting the Galra, and I know we’re just sitting here in our Lions in the middle of space because Hunk called Haggar _Shawty,_ but I really have to let Keith know what that means. This is just unacceptable.”

 

Shiro sighed. “It can wait until we’re finished. Right now, we have to get these Galra away from Visel. Can we do that? Can we do this one thing?”

 

Lance pouted. Hunk assumed Lance pouted, because that seemed like a very Lance thing to do. “Okay.”

 

THE END

(for reals this time)

  


 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Instead of the fic that I should be updating, I bring you this. Please enjoy!
> 
> Okay so I did write this and the bonus scenes separately, but then I decided that who cares they belong together! The bonus scene is funny and I wasn't going to put it anywhere else.
> 
> Please leave a comment this author is dying
> 
> EDIT: WHY the hell is this getting views??? I posted it like more than a year ago??? (03/18) help pls, pls help, help pls i am confusion


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